Suu Kyi Sidelined by Illness and Suspending Campaign

In this image released by the office of U.S. Senator Jim Webb shows Webb meeting with Myanmar's detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon Saturday Aug. 15, 2009. Webb won the release Saturday of an American prisoner John Yettaw convicted in Myanmar and sentenced to seven years in prison for swimming secretly to the residence of detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the senator's office said.

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Suu Kyi, a democratic leader hoping to win election in the Myanmar district of Kawhmu, has announced her intention to suspend the campaign and recover from exhaustion.

In a statement released by her party, the National League for Democracy, it was announced that Suu Kyi was suffering from low blood pressure and exhaustion and needed a four or five day break from campaigning. She has traveled throughout Myanmar hoping to spread awareness of her democratic message.

Myanmar is currently led by a military regime. Suu Kyi is hoping to change that with help from the National League for Democracy. The elections being held in the country this weekend are the first since 2010, when the military took power. The NLD has not participated in elections since 1990.

"She is very weak and needs an IV drip," Han Thar Myint told the Associated Press. "She is not in critical condition but is very fragile at the moment and needs to rest."

Kyi gained much public adoration for her willingness to speak out against the oppressive Myanmar regime. She was active in spreading the democratic message even though she spent 15 years under house arrest. That only helped her cause, and Kyi was released in 2010.

United States President Barack Obama said in 2010 that Kyi's release was "long overdue." He has supported Kyi's efforts for democracy, and said she "is a hero of [his]. Whether Aung San Suu Kyi is living in the prison of her house, or the prison of her country, does not change the fact that she, and the political opposition she represents, has been systematically silenced, incarcerated, and deprived of any opportunity to engage in political processes."

"I have to give you the first political lesson since my release. We haven't seen each other for so long, so we have many things to talk about. If you have any words for me, please come to the NLD headquarters tomorrow and we can talk then," she said.

"There is a time to be quiet and a time to talk. People must work in unison. Only then can we achieve our goal."